Abstract
Introducing additional elements into Ni‐rich cathodes is an essential strategy for addressing the instability of the cathode material. Conventionally, this doping strategy considers only the ...incorporation of additional elements into the bulk structure of the cathode in terms of fortifying the crystal structure. However, high‐valence elements such as Nb
5+
, Ta
5+
, and Mo
6+
are likely to be insoluble in the crystal structure, resulting in accumulation along the interparticle boundaries. Herein, a new mechanism for doping high‐valence elements into Ni‐rich cathodes and their effects on the morphology and crystal structure are investigated by calcining LiNiO
2
(LNO) and X‐doped LNO cathodes (X = Al, Nb, Ta, and Mo) at various temperatures. Operando X‐ray diffraction analysis reveals that the temperature at which the content of Li‐X‐O compounds declines is higher for the dopants with high oxidation states, reinforcing segregation at the grain boundary and widening the calcination temperature range. Thus, the highly aligned microstructure and high crystallinity of the LNO cathode are maintained over a wide calcination temperature range after doping with high‐valence elements, enhancing the electrochemical performance. As next‐generation dopants, high‐valence elements can fortify not only the crystal structure, but also the microstructure, to maximize the electrochemical performance of Ni‐rich cathodes.
Targeted protein degradation allows targeting undruggable proteins for therapeutic applications as well as eliminating proteins of interest for research purposes. While several degraders that harness ...the proteasome or the lysosome have been developed, a technology that simultaneously degrades targets and accelerates cellular autophagic flux is still missing. In this study, we develop a general chemical tool and platform technology termed AUTOphagy-TArgeting Chimera (AUTOTAC), which employs bifunctional molecules composed of target-binding ligands linked to autophagy-targeting ligands. AUTOTACs bind the ZZ domain of the otherwise dormant autophagy receptor p62/Sequestosome-1/SQSTM1, which is activated into oligomeric bodies in complex with targets for their sequestration and degradation. We use AUTOTACs to degrade various oncoproteins and degradation-resistant aggregates in neurodegeneration at nanomolar DC
values in vitro and in vivo. AUTOTAC provides a platform for selective proteolysis in basic research and drug development.
Substantial endeavors are dedicated to advance the electrochemical performance of Ni‐rich LiNi1−x−yCoxMnyO2 (NCM) and LiNi1−x−yCoxAlyO2 (NCA) cathode, with a particular focus on doping, aimed at ...addressing cycling durability and thermal stability of the cathodes. Mn is widely considered an attractive dopant because of its abundance and considerably lower cost than other dopant candidates. However, despite the long history of research, the role of Mn doping remains poorly understood, confined to the historical level, and associated with crystal structural and chemical aspects. Herein, the role of Mn doping beyond its classical role is redefined, particularly in terms of cathode microstructure. Introducing excess Mn during calcination significantly engineers the nano‐ and micro‐level structural features of the peripheral grains of the LiNi0.910Co0.079Al0.011O2 cathode. The microstructural modification achieved by doping with 4 mol% Mn significantly improves the electrochemical cycling performance of the cathode, extending the capacity retention up to 76.5% after 1000 cycles under fast charging conditions (3 C and 45 °C). Hence, by providing an alternative approach to redesign the structural features of the cathode, Mn doping offers a significant step toward the sustainable development of high‐performance Ni‐rich LiNi1−x−y−zCoxMnyAlzO2 (NCMA) cathodes for next‐generation lithium‐ion batteries.
The rational design of nano and microstructure in Ni‐rich layered cathode achieved via introducing an excess amount of Mn during the calcination process provides an alternative approach for redesigning the cathode for the sustainable development of high‐performance Ni‐rich cathodes for next‐generation electric vehicles.
To explore the career decisions and aspirations of early-career registered nurses in New Brunswick, Canada.
A qualitative study using an interpretive description approach was conducted.
...Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of nurses (n = 22) currently working in New Brunswick, Canada, with up to 5 years of experience from February to April 2022.
Participants described diverse career paths and aspirations. Personal factors affecting these included the desire for meaningful work, career satisfaction, work-life balance, spending time with family, working in a preferred location, and finances. Professionally, working conditions were the dominant factor influencing early-career nurses' career decisions and aspirations. Participants described how short staffing, safety, support, and scheduling influenced their day-to-day work, mental and physical health, job and career satisfaction, and intent to leave.
The findings highlighted the abundant and diverse career opportunities available to nurses early in their careers. Early-career nurses are interested in finding nursing positions with a high degree of person-job fit and value opportunities for ongoing professional education and growth.
This study in New Brunswick, Canada, explores early-career nurses' career decisions and aspirations during nursing shortages and the pandemic, emphasizing the importance of person-job fit. Recommendations include improving working conditions and career pathways to enhance the sustainability of the nursing profession.
Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR).
No patient or public contribution.
A high fraction of reactive Ni4+ ions at the cathode–electrolyte interfaces lead to capacity fading of Ni‐rich cathodes. Therefore, a core–shell (CS) design encapsulating the Ni‐rich region by a ...Ni‐less shell is an effective approach for improving the cycling stability of the cathodes. However, with increasing average Ni content to increase the capacity, the thickness of the shell should be reduced or the Ni fraction of the shell will be inevitably higher, making it susceptible to interdiffusion, which flattens the concentration gradient during the lithiation process. Herein, the limit of the average Ni composition in the CS‐type cathode is pushed to 94% via Ta doping, which suppresses interdiffusion by segregating the Ta‐rich phases at the particle boundaries. Ta doping allows the maintenance of the highly aligned microstructure and the ordered intermixing structure of Li and transition metal ions, as well as the concentration gradient, over a wide lithiation temperature range. The Ta‐doped CS‐type cathode retains 92.6% of its initial capacity after 1000 cycles and exhibits resistance to damage from fast charging. Multifunctional Ta doping in the CS‐type cathode provides a simple and all‐around solution to maximize the electrochemical performance of Ni‐rich cathodes, providing flexibility in the lithiation process.
The Ni composition in core–shell‐type cathodes is brought to 94% via Ta doping, which suppresses interdiffusion by segregating the Ta‐rich phases at the particle boundaries. Ta doping allows the maintenance of the highly aligned microstructure and the ordered intermixing structure of Li and transition metal ions, as well as the concentration gradient, over a wide lithiation temperature range.
Human exposure to microplastics contained in food has become a significant concern owing to the increasing accumulation of microplastics in the environment. In this paper, we summarize the presence ...of microplastics in food and the analytical methods used for isolation and identification of microplastics. Although a large number of studies on seafood such as fish and shellfish exist, estimating the overall human exposure to microplastics via food consumption is difficult owing to the lack of studies on other food items. Analytical methods still need to be optimized for appropriate recovery of microplastics in various food matrices, rendering a quantitative comparison of different studies challenging. In addition, microplastics could be added or removed from ingredients during processing or cooking. Thus, research on processed food is crucial to estimate the contribution of food to overall human microplastic consumption and to mitigate this exposure in the future.
In recent years, the development of energy storage devices has received much attention due to the increasing demand for renewable energy. Supercapacitors (SCs) have attracted considerable attention ...among various energy storage devices due to their high specific capacity, high power density, long cycle life, economic efficiency, environmental friendliness, high safety, and fast charge/discharge rates. SCs are devices that can store large amounts of electrical energy and release it quickly, making them ideal for use in a wide range of applications. They are often used in conjunction with batteries to provide a power boost when needed and can also be used as a standalone power source. They can be used in various potential applications, such as portable equipment, smart electronic systems, electric vehicles, and grid energy storage systems. There are a variety of materials that have been studied for use as SC electrodes, each with its advantages and limitations. The electrode material must have a high surface area to volume ratio to enable high energy storage densities. Additionally, the electrode material must be highly conductive to enable efficient charge transfer. Over the past several years, several novel materials have been developed which can be used to improve the capacitance of the SCs. This article reviews three types of SCs: electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), pseudocapacitors, and hybrid supercapacitors, their respective development, energy storage mechanisms, and the latest research progress in material preparation and modification. In addition, it proposes potentially feasible solutions to the problems encountered during the development of supercapacitors and looks forward to the future development direction of SCs.
Acetate is the main by-product from microbial succinate production. In this study, we performed acetate removal by
Methanosarcina barkeri
227 for succinate fermentation by
Actinobacillus succinogenes
...130Z. The acetoclastic methanogen
M. barkeri
requires similar environmental factors to
A. succinogenes
, and the conditions required for co-cultivation were optimized in this study: gas used for anaerobicization, strain adaptation, medium composition, pH adjustment, and inoculation time points.
M. barkeri
227 was adapted to acetate for 150 days, which accelerated the acetate consumption to 9-fold (from 190 to 1726 mmol gDW
−1
day
−1
). In the acetate-adapted strain, there was a noticeable increase in transcription of genes required for acetoclastic pathway—
satP
(acetate transporter),
ackA
(acetate kinase),
cdhA
(carbon monoxide dehydrogenase/acetyl-CoA synthase complex), and
mtrH
(methyl-H
4
STP:CoM methyltransferase), which was not induced before the adaptation process. The activities of two energy-consuming steps in the pathway—acetate uptake and acetate kinase—increased about 3-fold. This acetate-adapted
M. barkeri
could be successfully applied to succinate fermentation culture of
A. succinogenes
, but only after pH adjustment following completion of fermentation. This study suggests the utility of
M. barkeri
as an acetate scavenger during fermentation for further steps towards genetic and process engineering.
This study aims to develop artificial intelligence (AI) system to automatically classify patients with maxillary sinus fungal ball (MFB), chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), and healthy controls (HCs).
We ...collected 512 coronal image sets from ostiomeatal unit computed tomography (OMU CT) performed on subjects who visited a single tertiary hospital. These data included 254 MFB, 128 CRS, and 130 HC subjects and were used for training the proposed AI system. The AI system takes these 1024 sets of half CT images as input and classifies these as MFB, CRS, or HC. To optimize the classification performance, we adopted a 3-D convolutional neural network of ResNet 18. We also collected 64 coronal OMU CT image sets for external validation, including 26 MFB, 18 CRS, and 20 HCs from subjects from another referral hospital. Finally, the performance of the developed AI system was compared with that of the otolaryngology resident physicians.
Classification performance was evaluated using internal 5-fold cross-validation (818 training and 206 internal validation data) and external validation (128 data). The area under the receiver operating characteristic over the internal 5-fold cross-validation and the external validation was 0.96 ±0.006 and 0.97 ±0.006, respectively. The accuracy of the internal 5-fold cross-validation and the external validation was 87.5 ±2.3% and 88.4 ±3.1%, respectively. As a result of performing a classification test on external validation data from six otolaryngology resident physicians, the accuracy was obtained as 84.6 ±11.3%.
This AI system is the first study to classify MFB, CRS, and HC using deep neural networks to the best of our knowledge. The proposed system is fully automatic but performs similarly to or better than otolaryngology resident physicians. Therefore, we believe that in regions where otolaryngology specialists are scarce, the proposed AI will perform sufficiently effective diagnosis on behalf of doctors.
X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) mRNA processing plays a crucial role in the unfolded protein response (UPR), which is activated in response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Upon accumulation of ...the UPR-converted XBP1 mRNA splicing from an unspliced (u) XBP1 (inactive) isoform to the spliced (s) XBP1 (active) isoform, inositol-requiring enzyme 1 α (IRE1α) removes a 26-nucleotide intron from uXBP1 mRNA. Recent studies have reported the assessment of ER stress by examining the ratio of sXBP1 to uXBP1 mRNA (s/uXBP1 ratio) via densitometric analysis of PCR bands relative to increased levels of sXBP1 to uXBP1 using a housekeeping gene for normalization. However, this measurement is visualized by gel electrophoresis, making it very difficult to quantify differences between the two XBP1 bands and complicating data interpretation. Moreover, most commonly used housekeeping genes display an unacceptably high variable expression pattern of the s/uXBP1 ratio under different experimental conditions, such as various phases of development and different cell types, limiting their use as internal controls. For a more quantitative determination of XBP1 splicing activity, we measured the expression levels of total XBP1 (tXBP1: common region of s/uXBP1) and sXBP1 via real-time PCR using specific primer sets. We also designed universal real-time PCR primer sets capable of amplifying a portion of each u/s/tXBP1 mRNA that is highly conserved in eukaryotes, including humans, monkeys, cows, pigs, and mice. Therefore, we provide a more convenient and easily approachable quantitative real-time PCR method that can be used in various research fields to assess ER stress.
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